Author name: Divij Joshi

Divij Joshi is a lawyer and tinkers in technology and policy. He tweets @divijualsuspect.

Breaking: Delhi High Court Issues India’s First ‘Dynamic’ Website Blocking Injunction for Copyright Infringement

/ By / Copyright

Online piracy, that bugbear of copyright owners, has received significant attention from courts in India and abroad, which hope to craft an elegant solution to protect rightsholders interests in a digital economy, who face inherent limitations considering the manner in which data sharing and information flows over the internet work. The Delhi High Court through its judgement in UTV v 1337x.to, delivered on April 10, has made a significant contribution to this jurisprudence in India, particularly by crafting a new …

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From Betamax to Youtube – How Copyright Laws Have Impacted Innovation

/ By / Copyright

The Sony Betamax case may be familiar to some readers of this blog. The US Supreme Court ruling first elaborated the concept of ‘substantial non-infringing use’ as applied to the sale of technologies which could enable piracy or copyright infringement. In many ways, this ruling and the rationale behind it have been applied to subsequent technologies and regulations around these technologies – from p2p filesharing, to, most recently, online content hosting platforms. The Betamax and its history should be carefully …

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Breaking: EU Adopts New Copyright Directive on the Digital Single Market

/ By / Copyright

The European Parliament has voted in the EU Copyright Directive for the Digital Single Market, 348-274. The vote followed high drama and widespread public mobilisation against the proposal, specifically on its impact on the rules for online platforms and user-generated content on the internet. The text of the directive has seen many iterations, but most of the objections to the directive focus on its rules regarding the responsibilities of online platforms which host user generated content, as well as the …

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Draft E-Commerce Policy Extends India’s Intermediary Liability Woes

/ By / Copyright, Trademark

It’s been a rough time for online intermediaries operating in India, lately. Jumping on the techlash bandwagon in the wake of multiple social media fiascos concerning online disinformation, data breaches, and mass propagation of hate speech and abuse, governments across the world are taking this as an opportunity to tighten regulation for online ‘intermediaries’ – platforms which host third party content, such as social media or online marketplaces. Similarly, the hornet’s nest of intermediary liability for copyright and trademark infringement …

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Breaking: The Background Music to Spotify’s India Launch is a Crucial Legal Battle on Music Copyright

/ By / Copyright

It’s the one we’ve all been waiting for. Spotify, the Swedish music-streaming service, finally launched in India after months of speculation as to when and how the service would reach Indian consumers. Yet, an as yet unknown number of works in Spotify’s catalogue are in a precarious position, and could at any moment be pulled from the service. While we enjoy tunes from the world’s largest online streaming service, the background music to the launch is an intense legal battle …

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Update: European Union Agrees on Copyright Directive Text, ‘Upload Filters’ and ‘Link Tax’ Closer to Becoming Internet Norms

/ By / Copyright

In a major development in the European Union with repercussions for the internet at large, the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission on February 13, 2019, agreed upon the final text of the new EU Copyright Directive. While the text of the new rules has not yet been released, and they are yet to be officially confirmed by the parliament and council, a press release by the European Commission stated that a political agreement was …

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SaReGaMa Pa-rdon Me, You Have the Wrong Address: On the Perils and Pitfalls of Notice and Takedown

/ By / Copyright

The universe surely has a strange sense of humour. Imagine our surprise when we received a notice from Google Inc., that they had de-indexed one of blogs after a complaint was filed against it by Saregama India Pvt. Ltd. On December 13, 2018, Google informed us that: “Google has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that some of the material found on your site allegedly infringes upon the copyrights of others. Although some …

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Guest Post (Adarsh Ramanujan): Why Donald Trump’s Union Address Matters for Pharma Patents in India

/ By / Drug Regulation, Patent

We’re pleased to bring to you a guest post by Adarsh Ramanujan. Adarsh is an advocate primarily assisting clients as a litigation attorney. He has recently started his own counsel practice with offices in Delhi and Chennai after having spent considerable time with Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan at their New Delhi and Geneva offices. He obtained his B.Sc. LL.B. (Hons.) degree (Gold Medalist) from National Law University, Jodhpur  and LL.M. degree from University of California, Berkeley. He is a qualified Patent Agent …

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Draft Intermediary Guidelines Rules will Undermine Fair Dealing and Access to Knowledge Online

/ By / Copyright

The Ministry of Information Technology has released a draft of proposed changes to the Intermediary Guidelines Rules, 2011, made under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act”). Section 79 provides that certain categories of intermediaries which merely host third party content shall not be liable for such third-party content, provided that certain conditions are complied with, which is known as a ‘safe harbour’. Compliance with the Intermediary Guidelines Rules drafted under Section 79 is a pre-requisite to …

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A Draft Amendment to the Cinematograph Act could Put You In Jail the Next Time You Record an End-Credits Scene in a Movie Hall

/ By / Copyright

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting recently published a draft amendment to the Indian Cinematograph Act of 1952, with the stated aim of countering film piracy. The draft amendment, to Section 7(4) of the Cinematograph Act reads – “Notwithstanding any law for the time being in force including any provision of the Copyright Act, 1957, any person who, during the exhibition of an audiovisual work, cinematographic in an exhibition facility used to exhibit cinematograph   films   or   audiovisual   recordings   and   without   …

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